#dowery of mary

[sinnamonbun-in-purgatory]

I created more Puss In Boots oc, this time those that are dastardly evil...

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Mylan ‘Blue Beard’ Lire is a retired naval captain and a poor grieving widower...in reality he's a cruel vampire that keeps killing his new wives to steal their doweries and because he's a perfectionist.

Meanwhile...

Queen Mariah Rùdagan, was an evil sorcerer who was overthrown by her own subjects and allies, but before her execution, she took her own life. After her death, her stories were spread by the survivors under her rule, claiming that she's still out there...haunting those that betrayed her in life...for every time they look in a mirror-they see her...

Bloody Mari.

[relaxandtakealoadoff]

Stacie You are narrow minded and ignorant! You sit there and judge people on their jokes and racism is a huge problem for you! You might want to get some therapy. The reason you are narrow minded and ignorant is because when the topic of gay marriage comes around you say, ooooh I don’t know about that whole situation while all along your husband is bashing the right of gay people saying marriage is for a man and woman…..news flash lol look up the statistics of divorce lol.

I want to say one thing you She-Beast…..in the Bible it was said to kiss someone on the lips means you are their companion. And Jesus’ disciples question why Jesus and Mary would kiss. How many people have you married by kissing them on the lips, oh wait you will probably lie about that also. Anyway, when your husband was running off his mouth you were still prim and proper (fake,) and backing up one prejudice, hate filled Jack ass of a husband of yours.

Now go pay your daddy some dowery of 5 goats and a bowl of rice. So you are legally married you hypocrite!

[tinyshe]

Dowry of Mary

Presentation given on the National Consecration of England to the Blessed Virgin – March 29th 2020, by Fr Henry Whisenant, Assistant Priest at St Mary’s Shrine, Warrington, England

What a blessing that because of the LiveMass facilities in this church, those of you watching at home can join us in these devotions for the national consecration of England to Our Lady, even if we cannot be united in person.

This consecration, taking place across our country today, is to renew the offering of England to the Blessed Virgin under its privileged title of Dos Mariae, the Dowry of Mary.

It’s difficult to know when such a title was first in use – perhaps by the time of St Edward the Confessor – but there are at least clear, indisputable references to it by the 14th century. Already in 1350, one preacher was able to state: “it is commonly said that the land of England is the Virgin’s Dowry”. And on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, priests in England prayed to Our Lady under the title, “Protectress of her dower”.

What does the term mean: Our Lady’s Dowry or Our Lady’s Dower? It refers to the custom in marriages of old, that when a woman was married, the bride’s family provided certain possessions or property to be given with her to her husband. This property, this “dowry”, could not simply be liquidated by the husband – rather it was a conditional gift that was still in some way attached to the bride, so that if the husband were to die, the widow would have some financial security for herself and her children. It was also customary in certain cultures for the husband himself to provide a “dower”, a gift of wealth of property to his bride upon their wedding, for this same purpose.

England then was seen to be Our Lady’s Dowry, or Our Lady’s Dower, in this sense: that the Lord God, the Divine Spouse of her immaculate soul, entrusted to her this small island country to be her portion, to be under her custody and at her disposal. Throughout the centuries, from its evangelisation until the wanton destruction of the country’s faith under the Protestant revolution, the people of this land felt a great affection for the Mother of Christ as their mistress and protector, and they had a devotion to her that was famed in Europe.

At the height of this devotion, in 1381, around the Feast of Corpus Christi, King Richard II took the step of formally consecrating the country to Our Lady, in front of her image in Westminster Abbey, an event which is famously commemorated in the Wilton Diptych, which you can go see (but not right now, alas!) in the National Gallery in London.

On this Passion Sunday, in 2020, we gather, if not in body then in spirit, to renew this same consecration to Our Lady once again.

We might be forgiven for regretting the timing of this renewal, with all this happening around us. We might be forgiven for hankering after the solemn ceremony of 1381, and for thinking that – with the current virus doing the rounds, and everything cancelled and everyone in lockdown – we are, by contrast, in the very worst possible circumstances – the most dispiriting, the most underwhelming – for a renewal of that national consecration today!

But I suggest we look again at that first consecration of 1381… For we will find that, in reality, even more than ours today, that historic event took place in the midst of terrible pestilence and disease, social disruption and national anxiety.

To see this, we must go back 33 years before that consecration to the Black Death. The Black Death, the Plague, was a disease that also began in China, and was carried to Europe in 1348 by infected rats along prominent trade routes from East to West.

Between 1348 to 1349, the Black Death swept through England, and wiped out as much as 40-60% of the population. To get a sense of the magnitude of this, compare it to the coronavirus today. To this date, roughly 20,000 people in the UK are said to have tested positive with the virus: that’s 0.3% of the population. And just over 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the virus: that’s less than 0.002% of the current population… And now imagine a disease that claimed 40-60% of the populace! Not only this, but the plague returned every dozen years or so until the end of the century… For example, from autumn 1379 to 1380, it carried off up to another20% of England’s population!

The country, in terror, came to a standstill. Parliament was postponed. The King’s court was dismissed from Easter until midsummer. The London Guildhall was closed.

Keep in mind that this was less than a year before King Richard’s consecration of the country to Our Lady. The consecration took place in a country that was struggling to function normally after such a great atrocity – a plague significantly more crippling than anything we are yet facing today.

And not only this…

Because of the dramatic and sudden loss of life, England under Richard II was also experiencing profound social unrest. With the drastic shortage of labourers, those who were left to do the work demanded a greater salary for the increased work that was left to them. But the landowners, the employers, were reluctant to do this, and the ongoing tension led finally to the Peasants’ Revolt in June of 1381, when thousands of workers marched on London, killed anyone they found connected to the Royal Court (including the chancellor and the treasurer), and forced King Richard to meet with them and accede to their demands. It wasn’t until the end of June that this riot was largely quelled, and the rebels killed or dispersed.

Now bear in mind that this was the very same month when the Dowry Consecration took place. In other words, the King was not consecrating England to Our Lady simply as a nice and pleasant thing to do…! He was consecrating it to her, as her Dowry, as a way of saying: “Help! I don’t know what to do about all this! I don’t know how to manage all this chaos in my country! Come and be the mistress and protector and ruler of this land, your possession.” The consecration of 1381 was a plea to Our Lady in a time of great confusion and need.

It is in that same spirit that we present England to Our Lady on this day. “Mary, come to the aid of this country! Protect us from calamity, but protect us also from fear!” Let us not be paralysed by the daily media updates of new cases and hypothetical outcomes calculated to keep us in constant suspense and anxiety. Let us not have that fickle spirit of the world, that one day appears so confident and secure, even invincible, in its emancipation from God and in its freedom to sin, and then when the first threat comes along is paralysed by a terror mixed with morbid fascination. Such is not the spirit of the followers of Jesus Christ, who are called, rather, to live by the words of the Psalmist: “Those who put their trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion – they shall never be moved”.

We ask Mary, the mistress of her Dowry, to protect us also in these times from a spirit of bitterness and frustration…

Perhaps many of you watching these ceremonies today are frustrated that you cannot be here in the church. You might think, “What kind of consecration is it if I have to do it in the obscurity of my own home?” You may have had plans to be here, to be in your local cathedral, to be in the national shrine in Walsingham, before the lockdown made that impossible.

But let’s remember what the message of that particular shrine is about. Let’s move our focus for the last part of this reflection from the Richard II’s consecration in Westminster Abbey in 1381, to the vision of Richeldis de Faverche in Walsingham in 1061. When Our Lady appeared to Richeldis, what did she ask? She asked for a copy of the Holy House of Nazareth to be built in that place – the house where the angel announced to Our Lady herself the Incarnation of the Lord, and her vocation as the Virginal Mother of God.

Recall that event as it happened in the Scriptures. Recall that in the first chapter of St Luke’s Gospel that mystery of the Annunciation is paralleled with another announcement: to Zechariah, the father of St John the Baptist. Zechariah, a priest of Israel, was in the sanctuary of the Temple, offering incense to the Lord, and the Angel Gabriel appeared to him to tell him that his wife Elisabeth would, in her old age, conceive a son. Zechariah doubted the angel’s message, and as punishment for his doubt was struck dumb, until the birth of the Baptist…

Notice this… Zechariah is a priest… he is in the Temple… but he is not by virtue of these things alone at one with God. Rather, he is found wanting.

Then St Luke recounts the angel’s announcement to Mary. She is called full of grace, she is told that the Lord is with her, and that she will conceive the Son of the Most High by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost! And all this took place, where? Not the Temple in Jerusalem, where Our Lady had spent her girlhood, but in the obscurity of her parents’ home, in the unremarkable, unimportant town of Nazareth. It was in the isolation of her own home that Our Lady, by her Fiat, consecrated herself to the service of Jesus Christ as His mother.

At the same time, it was in in her womb, under the roof of that ordinary house, and not in a great stone temple, that Christ was consecrated High Priest of the Human Race. For at His conception in the womb, the Eternal Son of God took to Himself a human soul, and flesh and blood, and thereby the priestly power to offer sacrifice.

Again, it was not in a Temple, but on a hill of execution, outside the city walls, that the Lord offered that most sublime priestly sacrifice of Himself to save us from our sins – not on a richly carved altar, but on a rough wooden cross – a wonder that we are preparing in this Passiontide soon to commemorate.

And you too, in whatever place you are, are not hindered from acting under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and performing a supernatural and meritorious act, in consecrating England to Our Lady today. Because, by virtue of our Baptism, each one of us has become a Temple of the Holy Ghost. Whatever we do, whatever action we perform and wherever we are, if we are in a state of grace, and perform our actions for the love of God… then everything we do has a supernatural character, and becomes a pleasing offering in God’s sight. St Paul says, “Whether you eat of drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God”. So within the walls of your home today you can offer to God a prayer for this country that will pierce through to the sanctuary of Heaven itself, and that will increase, in a sense, the glory of God in this land.

So let’s be undaunted and encouraged as we make this collective consecration of our nation today. Let’s put England squarely in the hands of Our Lady, and ask her in the midst of these trying times to be the protectress of her Dowry…

May she protect England’s people from fear and anxiety, by leading them to place their security not in temporal prosperity and health, but in the saving sacrifice of her Son Jesus Christ, and in the eternal life He won for us.

And may she, the Virgin of the Annunciation, speak to us the words that echo still in her heart from the announcement of the angel: …the words, “Do not be afraid!”… and the angel’s greeting: Kaire! Which we translate as Ave, “Hail”, but which means – more than this – Rejoice! Be happy! Rejoice… for we are giving England back to her who is the Cause of our Joy, and whose Son ever harries and destroys the sadness of the Fall.

Our Lady of Walsingham: Pray for us!

Cause of Our Joy: Pray for us!

[sea-owl]

it's featheruary and we have no wing aus. I must fix this, especially since we have the Featheringtons!

As a huge fuck you to his dad (and may have been unknowingly partially inspired by his best friend's huge flock) Simon took his falcon wings and went around traveling to create his own flock. Making a very well known point that they were all his wards and he was not going to mate any of the women of his flock. Some joined to escape their birth flocks, others to help ease financial burdens, others did it because why not? While this practice was unusual in today's age it was not unheard of especially when it was used during times of war or plague.

When Simon told his aunt Agatha of his plan to create his own flock of wards she immediately sent for his first new one in the form of young Gareth St. Clair and his too big for his body canary wings.

"If you are creating a flock then take your cousin." Lady Danbury ordered. "Lord knows he'll be better off with a presumed rake than with that man he calls father."

The next person to join was Kate Sharma with her peacock wings. With the recent passing of her father and the financial strain on her family Kate began looking for ways to help. She knew there was enough money left for Mary to comfortably take care of one daughter and provide her a dowery but not two. Hearing rumors of a duke's heir looking to create his own flock Kate went looking for Simon. Simon agreed to take Kate on as one of his wards, and unknown to Kate he adds to money she sends her birth flock.

Next to join was Sophie Beckett and her silvery wings. Gareth had found her when Simon went to do business with Earl Gunningworth at Gunningworth's country estate. Gareth had came running up to Simon whispering about a young lonely lady. When Simon inquired further with Earl Gunningworth he was only told that Sophie was the earl's ward. Simon immediately knew the earl was just hiding Sophie away and suspected a former mistress was involved. So Simon took a gamble and offered to take Sophie in as his own ward. Just as Simon suspected Earl Gunningworth was happy to get rid of his illegitimate daughter.

The fourth member to join his growing flock was raven winged Penelope. Featherington. Simon wasn't too proud of how she ended up joining but he knew it was leagues better than where she could have ended up. What kind of father bets his daughter over a game of cards? Simon took a quick trip to the club the night before he and his flock were to leave London again. He needed a drink to steel his nerves as he always did when in London. Simon hated being in the same city as his father. There he overheard Lord Featherington betting the hand of his third born daughter in an attempt to win back some money he had lost. Well Simon couldn't let that slide, he knows of several women who would have his head if he didn't do something. Simon took the bet and won, but instead of a future wife Simon took Penelope in as his ward.

Penelope was sent to join her new flock the very next day, and then they were off to Gloucestershire as Penelope made a suggestion for their next new member, Phillip Crane who had wings like a barn owl. Penelope informed Simon that she met Phillip while on a trip to visit her cousin in the country. Penelope liked the boy but hated how his father treated him. Simon saw what Penelope meant when all he didn't even get to finish his sentence about wanting to see Phillip before Sir Crane pushed Phillip towards Simon and claiming Simon could take him.

Michael was the next to join in all his golden ealgle winged glory. Simon still isn't sure how that happened. He just kinda showed up one day when the flock was in Scotland, and then never left. But Michael really helped bring Phillip and Penelope out of their shells. So despite Michael being a pain in Simon's ass sometimes he did like having him as a member of the flock.

Now Simon definitely remembers how they got Lucy whose dove wings still had baby feathers on them when they acquired her. Penelope had gone to visit her sister Felicity, who still resides in the Featherington flock, with Michael and Phillip. The trio left together and then had come back with a small child. They claimed Lucy's parents had passed and her uncle was evil. They couldn't just leave her there! After writing to Lady Danbury to confirm that the trio did not kidnap a child from a loving flock Simon found himself with his final ward.

Once satisfied Simon then proceeded to travel the world with his flock giving them the freedoms he has been so desperately craving for years. Once in a while different members of his flock will go off and visit their birth flocks. But they always make sure to send note of their safe arrivals and leavings.

In the beginning of season of 1814 Simon receives a letter from Lady Danbury that his father has died. He must return to London as the new Duke of Hastings.

You also have three eligible young ladies in your flock. Perhaps it is time to make their debut and for you to find a mate.

Simon debates this, it is true that Kate, Sophie, and Penelope are all of marriageable age, and as the leader of their flock he does have a duty to make sure they are married and matched well, as well as Lucy when she is of age.

He brings it up to his right hand Kate, who wrinkles her nose in confusion. "I suppose it would be right to make sure Sophie and Penelope find good husbands."

Simon doesn't mention how Kate doesn't include herself.

"Edwina wrote to me as well. It appears Lady Danbury is sponsoring her this season. I want to make sure she finds a good match as well."

So off to London the flock went, thankfully Lady Danbury always threw the first ball of the season. So at least the flock would be somewhat comfortable.

Or not.

Kate looked ready to punch someone. The plume on her wings clearly ruffled. Penelope looked plain miserable as she tried to hide herself in her wings. Thankfully Sophie just seemed fascinated with the environment around her, her wings relaxed.

Time for some intervention.

"Phillip go dance with Sophie, Michael dance with Kate." Simon ordered.

Phillip and Michael looked confused. Simon gets it. Usually they paired off by age, Simon and Kate, Michael and Sophie, and Phillip and Penelope. But Simon knows Kate needs Michael to make her laugh right now, and Penelope needs Simon's reassurance or she's gonna try to blend into the walls. Phillip's calmer personality will help in keeping Sophie calm.

Before either of them could say anything Simon pushes them off. "Go on, dance with your flock mates."

Simon offers his hand to Penelope who smiles as she takes it. Leading the red head to the dance floor they start the dance. Slowly Simon watched as Penelope looses the tension in her shoulders. Glancing around the room Simon saw Kate laughing and looking more cheerful at whatever Michael was telling her. Phillip and Sophie looked to be having fun too.

At one point dance partners join in a circle with another pair before they temporarily switch off and then repeat to switch back. The pair that joined Simon and Penelope looked to be brother and sister. Simon would put them about a year a part with the brother being older and the same age as Michael. Their blue jay wings immediately give away which flock they belong to.

"Hello sir," the girl greeted. Her voice was light and musical.

"Hello Miss Bridgerton," Simon greeted her.

"I do not believe we have formally been introduced," the girl said.

"No, we have not, but your wings easily give you away," Simon said.

Miss Bridgerton thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Yes I suppose they do. Well since you know my family name it is only right you know my given one as well. I am Daphne."

They twirl and Simon is glancing around for the rest of his flock mates. It was weird, so much blue around them. The only one who wasn't paired with a blue winged partner was Michael who somehow ended up dancing with Edwina.

"Simon Basset," Simon said.

They switched back to their original partners, and Simon raised an eyebrow at the slight blush on Penelope's cheeks.

"Did you have a lovely chat with Mr. Bridgerton?" Simon asked.

Penelope nodded. "Yes, he was quite kind."

The dance ended and Simon led Penelope back to the rest of their flock.

"Basset?"

Simon looked around at the calling of his name. No one here has called him Basset, they've all called him Hastings.

"Basset!"

Through the crowd appeared Anthony Bridgerton.

"Bridgerton!" Simon smiled.

"How are you old friend?" Anthony asked as the two men briefly hugged.

"Learning about how true all your whining was back at Oxford," Simon laughed. "I swear my little wards are giving me gray hair."

"Hey!" five voices shouted behind Simon.

Anthony peaked around Simon's shoulder at the mismatched flock. "When I heard the rumors all those years ago about you creating your own flock I thought surely they had it wrong."

"This isn't even all of them," Simon said. "The two fledglings are at home asleep."

"Trying to copy?" Anthony joked.

Simon played along. "Mine are clearly the superior version." Pointing to each one Simon introduced them. "This is Kate Sharma, Michael Stirling, Sophie Beckett, Phillip Crane, and Penelope Featherington. The fledglings at home are Gareth St Clair and Lucy Abernathy."

Simon turned to his flock. "This Viscount Anthony Bridgerton, some of you already became acquainted with his siblings on the dance floor."

Later on Kate had gone off with her sister saying she will be home tomorrow after spending some time with Edwina and Mary. Simon nodded and after making their farewells to Lady Danbury the flock returns to Hastings House.

"He's trying to fuck me!" Was the only thing the flock heard when Kate came home the next morning.

Several members chocked on their food.

"Kate what are you talking about?" Simon finally asked.

"Your buddy Viscount Bridgerton had the nerve to unfurl and show off his wings in public to me! Right in the middle of an argument too!" Kate exclaimed.

Simon felt his protective nature over his flock creep up, and had to slow his words so he doesn't start stuttering. Something wasn't adding up. Yes it was common that the unfurling of wings and showing the underside of them was part of the mating dance in many parts of the world. Also yes Anthony was one of the biggest rakes he has ever known. But Simon knew, that Anthony knew how to act in public especially with gently bred ladies.

"Kate, tell me what happened exactly," Simon said.

Best to figure this out before the others try to send Penelope out for retcon.

Meanwhile across town Anthony was trying to not strangle his brothers who were laughing at him after accidentally unfurling his wings in a threat display during his argument with Miss Kate Sharma.